Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - For the first time in years, the Buffalo Bills find themselves in the “In the hunt” graphic after their 24-18 loss at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night at Paycor Stadium.
Unlike the EPA and DVOA, these grades won’t lie about what was shown against Cincinnati.
Let’s break down the loss and hand out some grade in all facets of Buffalo's game:
Passing offense: C-
The first drive was nearly flawless, only an early drop by tight end Dalton Kincaid. That was it.
The offense started the same exact way it did against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the week before: Up-tempo, spreading the football around, and Allen making play-after-play as they marched for six points.
Then, it was gone.
A combination of errors in execution and play-calling made the Bills become rather toothless for most of the game against the Bengals.
It wasn’t the offensive line’s finest game on Sunday night. While there were some protection issues, they weren’t outright dominated either. Dion Dawkins held up rather well against one of the league’s best in Trey Hendrickson. Spencer Brown struggled at times, but wasn’t a liability.
Once again, Gabe Davis made his bi-weekly disappearance. After popping off against Tampa Bay, Davis put up donuts on the stat sheet – no catches on two targets.
He simply cannot be a member of the Bills after this season. The variation in his game is too extreme. As it has been all season, if Davis disappears, the offense stalls with it. He is having a significant impact as the team’s second wide receiver, just not a positive one.
Unlike Davis, Stefon Diggs refuses to let this team die.
Once again, the lynchpin of the offense was the guy willing the team into the end zone, and made plays to help this team all evening.
Kincaid had 10 receptions for 81 yards in Sunday's loss. While the rookie also had a killer fumble while the team was driving in Cincinnati in the fourth quarter, he is becoming the reliable second option that fans expected of Davis.
Khalil Shakir is putting together a consistent stretch of production as well, chipping in 57 yards on four catches.
And then there is Josh Allen.
While there is an overreliance on No. 17, at times, there are also moments the quarterback himself puts the team in a precarious position. Allen’s interception was an underthrow, and a bad decision to throw it to Davis while coverage was there the whole time.
As for the offensive play-calling? Oh, we’ll get there.
Rushing offense: D
This is where the offensive line struggled mightily.
The Bills could not get a lot of push in the run game, often failing to get their blocks at the point of attack.
James Cook had only 20 rushing yards, but every one of those was earned, as Cook had to make several players miss just to get 1-2 yards. Bills running backs had an average of 3.0 yards per-carry, while Allen led the team on the ground once again.
I almost graded this as “incomplete,” but the run blocking struggled when they actually tried running.
The abandonment of the running game was forced by a combination of predictable called runs and Cincinnati’s own ability. But this is far from the first time this has happened to the run game.
Passing defense: D+
Sorry, defense.
The injuries are taking their toll, and there is only so much they can do to survive. Of course the Football Gods are not content with just leaving them alone, as the Bills defense suffered injuries to Terrel Bernard (concussion) and Christian Benford (hamstring) in Cincinnati.
Bernard has issues in run support, but he has held his own this year in coverage. Tyrel Dodson and Dorian Williams struggled mightily, as the middle of the field was constantly exposed.
The secondary was picked on all evening, often times seeing usual stalwarts Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer being beaten in coverage.
Dane Jackson tried. He came up with a couple of plays to slow down the Bengals, including three pass breakups. Ja'Marr Chase was held in check most of the night.
However, the secondary still couldn’t keep up, as Buffalo allowed Burrow to throw for 348 yards and two touchdowns.
Rushing defense: C-
The Bengals didn’t get too much going in the run game, averaging 2.5 yards per-carry. However, they also didn’t have to run it too often, as the passing game gashed the middle of the field.
New arrival Linval Joseph still has some game left in the tank. The veteran made a huge run stuff on a quarterback sneak that ultimately led to a rare Bengals punt.
Sadly, the last play of this game came down to a failed run stop. Von Miller had a chance to help get the ball back for the Bills, but could not wrap up Joe Mixon, who clinched the game with a first down.
Special teams: D
In a game where the defense was able to stop the bleeding and the offense was sluggish, special teams needed to have a positive impact.
Sam Martin had a pair of duds, two-line drive punts that helped give the Bengals some solid field position. The first punt was 38 yards, the second was another line drive that led to the Bengals having less than half the field to march in for a score.
Tyler Bass made his only two kicks, while Ty Johnson looked hesitant on his kickoff return, which only went 17 yards.
Coaching: F
10 days to prepare, and that's what you put out?
Let’s start with offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey:
The offense has an identity crisis. After looking among your best when going up-tempo, the offense ground itself to a halt. Why didn’t the team continue utilizing something that was working against Tampa Bay and the start of this game?
"Just the game plan that we had going into it." - Josh Allen
"I’ve got to look into that." - Sean McDermott
"I feel like when we were going a little bit more up-tempo, we were moving the ball a little better." - Dalton Kincaid
Dorsey seems to dig a hole for the offense on a regular basis. Regularly messing with rhythm, not playing to the roster’s strengths, and looking at its best when plays break down from usual structure. Whatever Dorsey is looking to make of this offense, it is does not meet this team’s strengths.
It’s easy for me to say this, move on from Dorsey. I’ve seen enough. Advanced numbers be damned. If someone wants him as a head coach, take him.
As for head coach Sean McDermott, it is simple to breakdown.
I do not have a problem with his defense or role as the defensive coordinator. I have no qualms about his defense. They have played admirably through all of their injuries. Through the past four games, the duct tape defense has been good enough in three of them. The scheme, while a bit soft, still is keeping the shorthanded unit from hemorrhaging points.
Somehow, it’s about to get harder if Terrel Bernard misses any time.
As of late, I do have a problem with McDermott, the head coach.
McDermott made quite the error in Cincinnati, challenging an incompletion down by 11 with only two timeouts left. At best, the challenge gets nine yards, still no first down, and the clock starts at the end of the announcement. At worst, which is what happened, the Bills burn a timeout and still have to face second down anyway. That timeout would have been helpful on Cincinnati’s final drive, though a stop on third down from Miller would have been better.
Last week, the coach refused to put down the Buccaneers with three punts when facing 4th-and-short.
If McDermott is unwilling to let Dorsey go at season’s end (if not before that), then it is time to move on from McDermott, too.
The Bills under McDermott may have had their best chance at a Super Bowl slip away in 13 seconds. More worrisome, however, is that defensive-minded head coaches rarely succeed in the NFL.
The Bills, and McDermott, have been the rare exception to that rule of thumb. However, the Bills have also been unable to elevate the club to more than a division winner, allowing the Bengals to surpass them as they were still chasing the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sometimes, good coaches get canned when a team reaches its peak with that coach. Buffalo made the AFC Championship Game during the 2020 season. They haven’t gotten back in the past two years, the team is getting older, and this year looks like one that can be another lost season.
What's next:
The Bills will hope to bounce back against the Denver Broncos on "Monday Night Football" at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. Kickoff is slated for 8:15 p.m. EST with wall-to-wall coverage on the official voice of the Bills - WGR Sports Radio 550 - starting with Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase at 6 a.m. EST.
